So Much Going On…..

March 28, 2012

So much going on in my head that is, not so much my day-to-day life…yet! But read on for what I’ve got cookin’……

As a family we are constantly striving to eat better, which in the end (we know after several runs at this) always makes us feel better. That point has hit home with us even more since we have had children, especially since they are both girls. One of the things I struggle with the most in my own mind is how to teach them about food without making it about guilt, shaming, or any of the truckload of emotions I often attach to it. I find myself talking to Holly a lot about protein and fiber, desperately trying to stay away from words such as “good,” “bad,” or the worst one CARBS. (Carbs receive so much abuse in the “diet” world in my opinion, which I think overshadows the fact that you really do need them. Just maybe not a whole loaf of them a day!)

As most of you know, I use Weight Watchers as my guide for portion control, but as far as the actually eating goes I really strive to eat well–not just less. Food has to be flavorful, and well…delicious..for me to want to eat it. You won’t find rice cakes or melba toast here! Nope, I believe that you can eat well while at the same time eating less. (And funny how when I do eat well, by design, all of the fiber and what not does actually end up in my eating less!)

These thoughts were on my mind today as I drove past Eggplant, an urban farm supply store here in town. I have wanted to stop in and check this store out for close to a year now, but up until today I hadn’t made the time. What I found when I was there was nothing short of amazing! I expected to find seeds and planters, but I didn’t expect to find a canning section (canning is on my forty before forty list so you know I was all over that), a cheesemaking section (wasn’t on my list before but might be now), a children’s gardening section, and loads of loads of beautiful books. Honestly if I had had my wallet with me we would have been in some serious trouble! Here is a photo of the shop:

Holly and I are so excited for gardening season to begin, she is slightly obsessed with Okra for some unknown reason, and I was excited to learn that Eggplant offers a class on how to incorporate vegetables into your landscape. (When you have a city lot, and a smaller than average city lot at that, you have to get creative.) I find myself now hunting for graph paper so that I can lay out the yard and get planning. Veggie beds, flower beds, new patio, a trellis, window boxes…oh the projects/posts that are going to fill up this blog this summer!

So…we’ve got canning and planning going on in my head. What else? Well….I am thinking of signing up for Jessica Sprague’s Digital Design class (another thing on my 40-B4-40 list is to learn how to make my own digital scrapbooking kits) and on the organizational front I am working on a functional and workable (for me) way to menu plan.

On top of all of this I am in the midst of getting Marie’s sleep schedule going again now that the pox has finally vacated the building. Today she would only take one nap…but, to her credit, she really is still quite happy even when she is tired. Both Holly and Marie are out cold for the night already (it’s nearly 7pm) and I fear I am not far behind. I have been staying up way too long lately playing around on pinterest. That site is just too addicting!

And with that I am signing off. Look for a post later this week, or perhaps the weekend, regarding steel cut oats. I have found that I love them, I just don’t love how long they take to make each morning. Do you know there is a way to make them ahead of time and freeze them in muffin tins? I had a “frozen puck” for breakfast this morning that took only 3 min to microwave! LOVE. I didn’t get the least bit hungry for hours…now that’s my kind of breakfast!

***Incidentally, I realize I have been referencing the 40-B4-40 list a bit the past few weeks. I am working on the list–it’s still not quite ready for the blog so don’t worry if you think you missed it. Turns out thinking of 40 things is rather time consuming. Hmmm…wonder if this is some kind of harbinger of how hard completing the whole project is actually going to be……